The Velveteen Knight
by TheWindWakersDream
Summary: After Cardin apologizes to Velvet for all he's done to her, she decides to go meet the reason why he changed his ways. The blonde knight in question is going to have a blast after meeting her.
1. Chapter 1

Common Interest

"Hey Scarlatina!" She jumped in fear when she recognized his voice, she really didn't need this today.

Turning around, Velvet saw the face of Cardin Winchester and immediately scowled. "What do you want now? I'm a little busy here."

Under normal circumstances Cardin would have reveled in the expression on her face. But after what happened in Forever Fall the look that Velvet gave him only made him feel guilt and disgust.

He sighed. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what me and my team have done to you. You didn't deserve that."

Velvet still held her look of hatred. "Why would you ever feel sorry for what you've done?" Cardin looked away from her, unable to match her gaze.

"I understand that you wouldn't believe me, but it's true. You know that Jaune kid?" She nodded.

"He managed to show me the wrongs that I've done so far, made me realize how cruel I've been. So I decided to at least 'try' to make up for it. The rest of my team as well, they were only following my orders."

Velvet looked away from the brute to see the blonde in question, he was smiling happily with his friends.

"You can ask him if you don't believe me, I truly am sorry."

As Cardin began walking away from the small Faunus girl, he noticed a student in a green hoodie with black hair sitting with his friends.

"Hey you! 'Ayah' kid!" He called out. The guy jolted upright and jumped onto his table. "AAAAAYAH!" He screamed as he bolted out of the cafeteria.

Cardin followed in a chase. "Get back here, I need to apologize!"

Velvet ignored Cardin as she began walking over towards Jaune's table with her tray in hand.

"And so I says to him, I says-" "Excuse me." Velvet spoke as everyone at the table turned to look at her. "Hmm?" Jaune mused as he saw who interrupted him.

"Oh, hello. Can I help you?" Jaune stared at Velvet with a gaze that bore into her very soul. She nervously gulped before answering.

"You're Jaune, right? Jaune Arc?" He nodded. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

He gave her a confused look but shuffled to the side to give her some room. "By all means."

Yang instantly took a shot. "Well well well, Lady Killer, never knew you had it in you!" Jaune and Velvet both blushed immediately.

Ignoring the crude joke, Velvet decided to introduce herself. "My name is Velvet Scarlatina, we've never met but Cardin apologized for being a bully earlier and told me it was because of you, Jaune. I felt like I should thank you accordingly."

Jaune was fairly shocked by this. "You don't need to thank me, I didn't really do anything anyway." Team RWBY was surprised as well. "Wait, it's because of Jaune that Cardin's stopped being such a degenerate? When did this happen?" Weiss asked, incapable of believing Jaune could achieve such a feet.

Pyrrha spoke up. "Don't you remember what happened in Forever Fall? When Jaune did you-know-what...?" Weiss understood right away. Yang wasn't quite through though. "So Jaune does something noteworthy in the woods and now he's got girls following him around? Not bad, I can only imagine what he did."

Jaune was beginning to blush harder. "It wasn't that impressive, I just protected Cardin from an Ursa Major, that's all."

The room fell silent.

As it turns out, the entire cafeteria was listening in on the conversation at their table. "No freaking way!" Screamed one black silhouette. "I don't believe it!" Yelled another.

No one thought that Jaune was capable of performing such an act, the resident Goofball? Hardly. "I know it seems hard to believe," Pyrrha started. "But it's true, Ruby and Weiss can vouch for him as well."

Despite the looks of shock everyone showed, none could compare to the look on Yang's face. "Jaune, you single handedly took out an Ursa Major, while protecting Cardin, your bully, at the same time...?"

Jaune was getting _very_ nervous. "Uuhh, y-yes?" Jaune didn't know what to expect from the blonde brawler, but what happened next was most certainly 'not' in his lexicon of reactions.

Yang stood up and walked away. She didn't even utter a word, she simply left the room, not even passing a glance behind her. "Well, that was awkward." Jaune said, unsure of how to bring the mood back to normal.

"So... Velvet, was it? Where's the rest of your team?" Velvet turned her head away from the exit that Yang had taken and looked at Jaune. "They like to get in some early practice every morning. I'm a rabbit Faunus, so I've got to eat more than them, that's why I always go to breakfast alone."

It was only at that point that Jaune had really taken a look at the girls tray. She had what looked like a five course meal stacked on top of each other. Compared to his measly little sandwich, he felt pretty emasculated.

"I see... wait, you always eat breakfast alone?" She nodded. "Well that's not right! From now on you're eating with us." Velvet looked very surprised by his outburst, but smiled nonetheless. "I think I'd like that."

* * *

Yang felt like she was floating.

Understandable when you're falling toward the sky at terminal velocity. But such a risk is necessary when you enter the Emerald Forest from Beacon Cliffs.

She _could_ have taken the stairs, but that would have taken too long, it was a school day and she didn't want to spend the whole day in the woods.

There aren't as many Ursa in the Emerald Forest as there are in Forever Fall, but Yang was determined to find an Ursa Major and kill it before the day was done.

"I'm not gonna let Vomit Boy outshine me, I will have a Major's head on a spike when I'm done here." It would clearly be a long day.

* * *

"Welcome to class everyone, I do hope you've had a good nights sleep. Now then who is willing to contribute to class today, hmm?!"

The ever welcoming voice of the good Professor Oobleck reached the ears of all the students in his History class. No one was very pleased.

As the teacher scanned over the room, his eyes spotted one Jaune Arc sitting next to Velvet Scarlatina, they were chatting amicably. It warmed his heart to see Humans and Faunus so easily being friends together.

He wouldn't have felt so warm had he listened in on their conversation. "Once he takes a sip out of his mug, just _try_ to follow him, see if you can pin-point where he's gonna stop too. My team and I play this game all the time. It's sooo much fun."

Velvet wasn't so sure. "I don't know, that seems a little rude..." Jaune only smiled wider. "Trust me he'll never notice, it's hilarious."

She decided to go along with it and the two began the game of champions: 'Catch the Oobleck'.

She found that Jaune was right, the game was ridiculously fun. "The right corner of the room." She whispered.

FWHOOSH!

"Now, who can tell me the date of the beginning of the Great War?" He was in front of his desk. "Nope." Jaune said, a huge grin on his face. "The 'left' corner of the room."

FWHOOSH!

"Ahh, you, over in the back." He materialized in the far left corner of the room and pointed to a silhouette in the back of the rows.

"Ugh, how are you so good at this?" Jaune grinned. "Practice. Like I said, my team and I play it all the time. I've never lost." Velvet stared disbelievingly.

"You've lost at _least_ once." Jaune gave her a look of mock hurt. "Why Velvet, I'm shocked to think you have such little faith in my ability. That hurts." Velvet smiled back. "Good."

The two laughed to themselves for the rest of the period.

* * *

GROOOOAAAARRR!

'Finally' Yang thought as she stood on a pile of Ursa. A large black bear crept into the clearing and looked towards Yang with malicious intent, hoping to strike fear into it's prey.

It had large porcupine like spikes protruding from it's back and it stood at twice the size of the other Ursa that now lay dead.

"An Ursa Major... you're mine." She smashed her fists together and erupted into flames, turning super saiyan. The Major was the one to feel fear at that point.

* * *

Lunch had fallen on Beacon academy and the group sat at their usual table. Yang was still missing so Velvet had taken her spot next to Weiss.

Nora was regaling the group with a stunning story of one of her dreams, Ren doing his solemn duty of adding points she had forgotten along the way.

Jaune was doing his best to ignore her, ever since the day had started there was something else that took his interest, something he simply couldn't keep his mind off of.

Velvet.

To say she was stunning would be an understatement. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Whenever she smiled Jaune felt warmer than he ever had in his life, he loved the feeling.

Jaune wasn't very well versed when it came to social situations, but he figured that he was already developing feelings for the girl.

He needed to stop. 'I can't feel this way about her, we've only just met. Besides, she's way out of my league anyway.'

Velvet noticed Jaune's shift in mood and was rather confused by it. "Jaune are you alright? You seem a little... off." When Jaune stopped hearing any conversation he looked up and saw that everyone was staring at him.

"What's going on? I blanked out for a second there." Everybody looked between each other with similar looks of worry. Velvet was about to speak up again when the door to the cafeteria suddenly burst open.

Yang walked in battered and bruised with her head held high. She made a beeline directly towards the table and walked up to Jaune. "I have a present for you."

Jaune couldn't speak when Yang suddenly held out her hand and dropped something into his lap. Looking down, Jaune paled in shock at what was looking back.

The bleeding head of an Ursa Major.

"I beat one on my own now too, Vomit Boy. We're even." Jaune was still stuck staring. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Everybody else was staring at Yang in shock, they could easily believe that the brawler would be able to take a Major on her own, but they weren't expecting her to have done so within the last few hours.

"Well then, I'm very impressed Yang, congratulations." Jaune then picked the head out of his lap and handed it back to her. "H-here, this is yours."

Yang shook her head. "Oh no, you keep it as a reminder that I can take one too." She then left the cafeteria and headed back to her room to get changed.

The entire group stared on in confusion and Velvet was the first to speak. "I don't know her very well... does she always act like that?" Silent, shaking heads was her only reply.

"Let's just forget that happened." Jaune stated as he stood up and put the creatures head into the closest trash can. "Agreed." The group replied in unison.

Jaune decided that moping around over the fact that Velvet wouldn't like him would do no good. She may not want to go out with him, but Velvet is certainly willing to be his friend. That would be more than enough for him.

"So, what were we talking about again?" Jaune asked, Velvet spoke up. "I don't actually remember..." The group looked between themselves in confusion and before they knew it the bell rang.

"Right, well then. Let's just go to class." Everybody left without a word.

* * *

Velvet caught herself staring again. Ever since she met him, Velvet had been staring at Jaune whenever she was sure he wouldn't notice. 'You've got to stop that Velvet, there's no way he could like you that way. Not someone like him, he's way out of your league.'

Her eyes drifted towards him again and she found herself staring, she simply couldn't look away. He wasn't overly handsome, but his hair shone with the golden light of dawn and she could easily drown in his blue, ocean eyes.

It's also a personality that shapes how attractive people are and he may be goofy, but he's certainly kinder than any other guy she's met. He shows so much generosity to people he's never met, don't even get her started on how he treats his friends.

"Stop staring!" She whispered to herself. "What was that?" Jaune asked. "Oh, you heard that? Umm, I said... get your bearings. Yeah, get your bearings Jaune, class is almost over. We need to go." Jaune was confused, but nodded nonetheless and packed up to leave.

The second Jaune's book entered his bag the bell for the end of day rang. "Well that was quick. Say, do you wanna hang out some more? I was thinking of heading to the library for some extra studying, I can see that you're pretty smart so do you want to come with?" Velvet was fairly surprised by this.

"J-just the two of us?" Jaune easily took this the wrong way. "Oh, I see. W-well you can bring someone if you want." Velvet interrupted him before he could continue. "NO! I mean... n-no, just the two of us sounds fine."

The smile that Jaune replied with warmed Velvet to her very core. "Then let's go."

* * *

"Okay, seriously how the hell are you so damned smart?" Jaune asked Velvet for what felt like the hundredth time that hour.

Velvet giggled with her reply. "I'm not that smart Jaune, I just pay attention in class, I don't waste my time playing guessing games."

Jaune looked mildly offended. "I don't _play_ guessing games, my dear Velvet. I _master_ them." The two laughed and continued to talk, unaware of the eyes that followed them.

"So... I'm not the only one that sees the two of them have the hots for each other right?" Yang asked the rest of the group.

Blake nodded. "I wonder if they even know it themselves, it could take a while for them to admit it to each other."

"I think they look cute together." Nora said as Jaune blushed after catching himself staring again. Velvet did the same not a minute afterwards.

Pyrrha soon got an idea. "How about we help swerve them in the right direction...? I'd like to see my partner happy."

"I agree with this idea one hundred percent!" Weiss all but screamed, eager to end the blonde's attempts at flirtation.

"It's settled then." Ruby started with pride in her voice. "Operation Velveteen Knight is a go!"

Everybody stared at Ruby in disdain. "Really?" Asked Ren. "That was the best you could come up with?" Ruby turned to look at him in confusion.

"What?"

* * *

Jaune and Velvet sat blissfully unaware of the conniving group that hid twenty feet away. They were completely and utterly enthralled by each other.

It could take them a day or it could take them a year, but no matter what. Jaune and Velvet would be the best of friends, they would most certainly stay together.

But not _together_ together.


	2. Chapter 2

The Best Laid Plans

"What am I even doing here?" Ren asked himself for the umpteenth time that day. "I really don't feel like I should be here..."

Ren looked between the six girls that now stood in team RWBY's room, all of which were plotting and scheming.

"You're here to help, Ren, we can't do this without you." Ren gave Nora a withering look. "And how, pray tell, can you not do this without me?"

Nora smirked. "You're a guy, Jaune trusts you a lot, we need to use that." When Ren realized the implication of Nora's words he paled in fear.

'I feel kind of bad for Jaune...'

* * *

"ACHOO!"

Looking up from her book, Velvet saw Jaune wiping his nose. "Bless you." Jaune looked over to her. "Oh, thanks. That came out of nowhere though, I'm definitely not sick..."

Velvet gave Jaune a small smile. "Maybe someone's talking about you." Jaune smiled back. "Probably talking about how awesome I am."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Oh, what else would they talk about, hmm?"

Velvet smirked. "Perhaps they're talking about how bad you are at schoolwork, I'm certainly thinking it."

Jaune showed mock hurt. "Well I can guarantee if you sneeze, it'll be because someone's talking about how much of a dork you are."

"I guess it's a good thing that I'm not sneezing then, so no one's thinking that but you. Someone who clearly isn't that smart."

Jaune couldn't beat that, so he shrugged and settled for tickling her sides. "Wha- pffhahahaha!" The sound of her laughter reaching his ears warmed his heart. So he didn't stop for another ten minutes.

* * *

"Alright... I think that'll work." Pyrrha started slowly, taking every detail into account.

"I agree." Blake said, uncharacteristically interested in the affairs of others.

"I just hope that Lady Killer doesn't screw it all up. I'm not sure if we can help them if this fails." Yang added as the plan was relayed to Ren, he was one of the biggest factors after all.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it does seem like this could work well." Ren agreed as he was briefed on the details. "Jaune won't know what hit him."

As the group left the room to prepare, Nora stayed behind and burned the plans that they made. There can be no evidence.

Fire is also really pretty.

* * *

Jaune and Velvet had left the library to return to Jaune's room. He invited her there so that they could talk in quiet. Despite the fact that they were in a library, they were in a school library.

School libraries were never quiet.

Velvet also wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of being alone with Jaune in his bedroom.

As they entered, Jaune sat down on his bed and Velvet sat next to him. "So... What do you want to do?" Velvet asked, unsure of herself.

Jaune let many thoughts play through his head, he knew what it meant to have a girl alone with you in your room.

He wouldn't entertain said thoughts for long. "How about we just talk?" Velvet nodded in agreement. "Sure, what about though?"

Jaune thought for a moment. "Anything."

Roughly half an hour passed before anyone entered the room, it was Ren. "Ah, here you are, I've been searching for you." He said looking directly at Jaune. "Come with me."

Jaune looked up at him with a look of confusion. "What's going on?" Ren shook his head and grabbed Jaune's hand. "There's no time to explain, come with me." Lifting Jaune from the ground, Ren bolted out of the room with his leader in tow.

Velvet was left alone in Jaune's room awkwardly sitting on the floor. 'Guess I should just grab my stuff and leave then.'

As she slowly picked up her bag, Velvet failed to notice the door silently open and two girls walk in. "Hello Velvet." Startled, Velvet turned around to find both Pyrrha and Nora standing in front of the door.

"Oh, hello Pyrrha, what's up?" Pyrrha sauntered over to her and looked Velvet in the eye with an expressionless look on her face. "What do you think of Jaune?" Velvet was confused, she had no idea what Pyrrha meant by the question.

"Uhh, he's a good friend?" She answered/asked, unsure of where the girls were going with this. Nora decided to speak up at this. "Alright, but what do you think of him?"

Velvet was still confused, but answered nonetheless. "He's very kind and he always wants to protect others... and... can you keep a secret?" The girls nodded.

"Whenever he's around I always get this weird, fluttery feeling in my stomach. It's hard to talk to him as well, I'm usually able to speak easier. What's going on?"

Pyrrha smiled softly and Nora had a manic grin on her face. "You my friend, are in love with Jaune."

* * *

"Great, so everyone knows that I like her, huh?" After Ren had disclosed that he and RWBY knew about Jaune's feelings, his first reaction was unexpected. "Yes, we do. It wasn't that hard to figure out."

The defeated look on Jaune's face even made Ren show a little empathy. "The reason I'm telling you this is because we're trying to help. You're not the only one in love you know." Jaune looked confused by this.

"What are you talking about? You don't mean..." Ren nodded. "I'm surprised you didn't realize it sooner Jaune, Velvet is in love with you as well."

* * *

"You're kidding! There's no way that Jaune could be in love with me!" Velvet all but screamed at the two girls who couldn't help but giggle at her outburst.

"It's true Velvet, Jaune is in love with you." Pyrrha spoke slowly, so to not startle the small girl further. "I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet."

The look on Velvet's face would be one that both Pyrrha and Nora wouldn't soon forget. "What sort of signs has he shown?" She asked, still doubting the legibility of the girls words.

Pyrrha looked at her incredulously. "You never saw him staring at you? He would just look at you for as long as you wouldn't look at him. It was kind of creepy now that I think about it..."

* * *

"She was staring at me? Velvet?" Ren learned that Jaune was a very hard person to persuade into understanding. "Yes Jaune, she was."

Ren made sure to file the look on Jaune's face into the back of his head for later use. "What am I supposed to do about it then?" Jaune asked, starting to fear the implications.

Ren grinned. "Don't worry Jaune, we've got a plan..."

* * *

"What do you mean by 'a plan'?" Velvet asked slowly, trying to piece together some concept of what was happening. Pyrrha smiled.

"Just follow us."

Velvet was still very confused by the last couple of minutes as she followed Pyrrha and Nora up to the roof of Jaune's dorm building.

As Nora opened the door she smiled brightly and ushered Velvet outside, Ren came rushing through the doorway as soon as Velvet came through. "Hey wait! Ren, where are you going?!"

Velvet turned to the voice to find Jaune awkwardly standing on the rooftop alone. She then heard a click behind her.

They both understood what was happening immediately.


	3. Chapter 3

You Always Need Preparation

They were silent. Both understood what their friends had done. They liked each other and they knew that they liked each other, but saying such words wouldn't exactly be easy.

"Soooo..." Jaune started, unsure of what to say to the girl in front of him. "Friends are acting kind of weird huh?"

Velvet nodded with a slight blush on her face. "Jaune, do you like me?" Jaune was shocked by the question. "Of course I do!"

Velvet smiled. "As more than a friend?" Jaune began to blush now and unable to formulate a sentence, he nodded.

"I like you too Jaune, but what do you think we should do about it?" Jaune didn't need to think for very long to come up with an idea.

"We don't need to do anything about it Velv, I say we just let things run their course and see where we go." Velvet smiled at Jaune's idea and nodded in reply.

Their Scrolls both vibrated as they got a message from Yang. Jaune decided to read it out loud. "That isn't good enough; you aren't getting off of this roof until you agree to… go on a date?!"

His blush was back in no time. "Velvet, what do you think?" Looking up from his Scroll, Jaune saw that Velvet was blushing also.

"I-I guess we've got no other option…" It was fairly apparent that Velvet wasn't displeased by this fact. Jaune sighed in recognition. "Alright, we can head out to Vale over the weekend and go on a date."

Velvet was about to reply when Jaune got another message. It read: "Say it like you mean it." 'She is enjoying this way too much.'

Jaune took a deep inhale of breath and calmed his nerves. 'She already likes you, she **wants **this, just say it.' He looked Velvet dead in the eyes and asked her the question they hadn't been expecting for a long time.

"Velvet, will you go out with me?"

Velvet didn't hesitate for a moment when she replied. "I'd love to Jaune." They both smiled as they shared a warm embrace. It was broken however when yet another message was received.

"And now they kiss~"

Jaune nervously gulped as he looked to Velvet for some form of compliance. He sighed inwardly when she gave him a blank expression in return. 'I really need to make this call myself?'

Steeling his nerves once again, Jaune took hold of Velvets waist and brought her closer to him. He had to hold back a laugh when she made a small noise because of it.

She was now staring into his eyes and Jaune knew that Velvet wanted this as well. So he leaned his head closer to hers and closed his eyes, praying that she would do the same.

They met half way and shared their first kiss together. It was chaste and sloppy, but it meant the world to them both.

Only then did the door to the roof make a clicking sound and open for them. "Nice work you two," Yang said with her Scroll raised and another clicking sound was heard. "I didn't think you'd actually do it, you didn't have to after all."

The two hostages said nothing as they walked passed Yang and made their way down the stairwell. They passed the rest of the group along the way; each giving their own form of apology.

As Jaune passed Ren he gave the martial artist a death glare and whispered three simple words to him. "I trusted you."

The defeated look on Ren's face was then captured for eternity by Yang with another click of her Scroll.

Jaune and Velvet soon made it to the bottom of the stairs and turned to each other. "Sorry about that Velv, my friends can be a little 'enthusiastic' sometimes." Velvet laughed as she shook her head.

"It's fine, I guess it was pretty funny." Jaune then pulled the girl in for a quick hug. "It's Friday today, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow for our date."

As they parted, Velvet stood up on her tippy toes and gave Jaune a light kiss on the cheek before she turned around and took a few steps away from him. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Jaune."

She then turned around and winked at him. "For our date." She said seductively as she left for her own room.

Jaune then felt a burning heat on his face as he turned for his own room. 'I never knew Velvet could even act that way. I thought she was always innocent! Looks like I'm in for more than I thought tomorrow.'

He then smirked as he opened the door to his room. 'I can't wait.'

* * *

When Velvet returned to her room that night she had a proud smile on her face. This was easily noticed by Coco as she sat on her bed checking her Scroll for messages.

"What's gotten you so happy?" She asked with a smirk as Velvet sat on her own bed. "I have a date tomorrow." She replied as she took out her own Scroll.

"A date?" Coco asked in surprise as she put away her Scroll and looked at Velvet with a smile on her face. "With who?" She inquired. "You remember that guy I was telling you about, don't you? His name was Jaune."

Coco was slightly perplexed by this. "That guy that stopped Cardin? He asked you out?" Velvet nodded and turned to her. "His friends had a lot to do with it but we're going on a date tomorrow."

With the thought of her friend finally getting a boyfriend firmly planted in her mind, Coco set to action. "Where are you going?" She asked. "Out into Vale." Velvet replied.

"What are you wearing?" Coco continued as Velvet gave her a confused look. "Uhh, clothing?" She asked as Coco got a furious look on her face. "No, no, **no. **You have to dazzle him, wow him so much he'll **have **to go on a date with you again." Velvet was getting confused by this point.

"You need to wear something cute, like a skirt or a dress. There are plans that must be made!" Coco had by this point stood up and begun shaking Velvet with each word to get her message across.

"You can't do this by tomorrow. Postpone the date until Sunday and **we'll **be going into Vale to get you better prepared." Now Velvet was on the defensive. "What, why?!"

Coco's response was a stern glare. "**Because you will follow the orders of your leader when she is working to protect you from harm.**" Velvet shivered at the sound of Coco's voice and curled into a ball on her bed. "Y-yes ma'am!"

"Good. Message Jaune and tell him it's off until Sunday, we leave at dawn." Velvet followed the order of her leader and sent a message to Jaune's Scroll.

'I hope he's okay with this.'

* * *

Jaune had fallen to sleep the moment he entered his room that night and his team soon followed. Ren felt guilty for what he had done and vowed to make up to his leader for misleading him.

The next morning they all woke up to their joint alarm and three of them groaned in protest. Nora was as chipper as usual though and got dressed before everyone even managed to leave their bed.

As Jaune struggled to get out of his sheets, Pyrrha asked him a question. "What are you going to be wearing for your date Jaune?" After he made his way out of the valley of doom that was his bed in the morning, Jaune gave Pyrrha an unclear look.

"C-clothes?" He asked as he stood in his blue onsie. Pyrrha only rolled her eyes. "I mean **what **clothes? Will you be dressing casual, formal, where are you even taking her?"

Jaune looked around the room to find both Ren and Nora staring at him as well, also curious to see what he had planned. "I guess I hadn't… thought about it?"

Three simultaneous face palms followed as Jaune stared at his friends in confusion. "Jaune, you're going on a date. You have to plan for these things." Pyrrha scolded as Jaune got dressed in his usual hoodie and jeans.

"But it's **today**, how am I supposed to plan for anything? Besides, you guys were the ones who made this happen." He directed that last bit specifically at Ren who felt a pang of guilt rise in his chest again.

Ren decided now would be a good time to help him. "Then you should postpone the date until tomorrow. We'll head out into Vale and scout out some places that would be good. You can also get some more impressive clothing."

Jaune continued to give Ren a blank stare and said nothing for a whole thirty seconds. "Oh, and then what? You'll ditch me and leave me alone in **another **awkward situation? I see you're game, you rogue."

Throughout his entire life Lie Ren had been called many things, but a 'rogue' was not one of them. He wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or not.

"Jaune, I promise you I won't do something like that. I'll only be there to help." If Ren knew anything about Jaune, it was that the blonde never broke a promise and he despised those who did. So he knew that Jaune would trust him here.

It took the knight a few seconds though. "Alright… fine. I'll message Velvet and tell her to wait until tomorrow to…" Jaune had grabbed his Scroll but found that there was already a message from the girl in question.

He read it to himself and chuckled before putting his Scroll away. "That was Velvet; she said to wait one day so she can get ready." He decided not to share the part where she said she was 'super-duper-mega-ultra-sorry' about it though.

Ren smiled to his leader before looking over at Pyrrha. "Do you think you can take care of Nora for the day and make sure she doesn't get into trouble?" Pyrrha nodded.

"I'll keep her reigned in." Ren said his thanks before he and Jaune grabbed their wallets off their bedside tables. "We'll be back later today. Nora, **stay out of trouble.** Or you'll learn why Pyrrha's a four time champion."

Nora nervously gulped while looking at Pyrrha's scarily innocent smile. "Y-yes Ren." Ren nodded once more as he opened the door to their room. Jaune exited first and Ren closed it behind them. "See you later!" He called out as the door shut.

Pyrrha silently waved them off while Nora continued to stare at the redhead in fear. "So, what would you like to do today Nora?"

* * *

Three hours had passed since Velvet and Coco left the airship that docked in Vale. It was now nine thirty and the duo had visited more clothing stores than Velvet knew existed in the world.

Yet by Coco's standards, **none **of them had anything that was good enough for her 'perfect little bunny rabbit' and they were now on their way to the forty eighth store to try again. Yes, she had been counting.

Velvet was dying of exhaustion because of it. "Co, can't we take a break? My legs are killing me here…" Coco stopped her brisk pace abruptly and turned around to issue a glare in Velvet's direction.

"Do you want to go on a date with this guy or not?" She asked as Velvet held onto her knees while panting. "Of course I do." Velvet replied. Coco nodded.

"Then quit your complaining and enter this store with me. It's the last one in this part of the city anyway so we'll take a break if nothing's here."

Velvet sighed in defeat as she followed her leader into the forty ninth store for the day and looked around at all the mannequins that lined the display.

None of them quite fit her style though and she was forced to continue after her leader as she checked all of the racks.

Ten minutes had passed and just as Velvet was thinking of sneaking out, a pair of arms thrust some clothing at her and told her to go into the changing booth to try them on.

Velvet was slightly befuddled but followed the instruction and entered the booth anyway.

Coco gasped as Velvet stepped out. She was clad in a white, silky dress that ended at her knees. The dress was sleeveless and appeared to be frayed over the torso. A single brown belt was strapped over the waist for good measure.

It was perfect, nothing could've looked better on the girl and Coco squealed in delight at the sight of her. She did notice one small problem that needed to be fixed right away.

Coco grabbed the belt around Velvet's waist and tilted one side further up while the other hung lower. "Now it's perfect." Velvet laughed softly as she re-entered the booth and changed back into her usual clothes.

While she was in there, Coco also grabbed a pair of brown, knee-high boots that went perfectly with the dress. Velvet soon exited the booth and found her leader holding the boots out to her.

She could only roll her eyes with a smile in response. "Come on; let's grab something to eat before we head back to Beacon."

After paying for the outfit and leaving the store, both girls made their way to a café for some breakfast. After they had ordered their meal, with a coffee of course, they merely sat together in silence.

That is of course, until Velvet spotted a familiar head of blonde hair walking through the streets next to a streak of pink. "Jaune?!"

This caught the attention of Coco who immediately looked out the window to see two boys walking down the street chatting amicably.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you weren't the only one who needed time to prepare. He the one with the black hair or the blondie?" Coco noticed that both would be acceptable, neither was unattractive in any way.

"Jaune's the blonde one with the blue eyes." Coco chuckled as her eyes never left the two. "Aryan, huh? Seems you've got good tastes after all. Besides, the other one looks a little… high class."

Their meals arrived shortly and both scarfed them down as fast as they could and skulled their coffee. "How about we tail 'em and see what we can find out?" Velvet was slightly disoriented by this.

"What would we be finding out exactly?" She asked as Coco stood from her seat and placed some Lien down for the bill.

"Who knows, where he plans on taking you, what he's going to be doing? We might even catch him buying a nice outfit for you to ogle him in." Velvet rolled her eyes at the thought but decided it couldn't hurt.

"Alright, we'll see what he's up to…"

* * *

"ACHOO!" Jaune sneezed loudly as he and Ren stopped in front of a fancy restaurant. "Enjoy yourself? I swear there was a cloud of mucus in the air for a few seconds after that."

Ren chuckled softly as Jaune rubbed his nose with a finger and cleared his airway. "Oh hardy har. I'm sneezing more and more often these days, which is weird because I'm definitely not sick."

Ren chuckled again as they entered the building. "Looks like someone's getting popular then." Jaune laughed with him as he pulled out his Scroll and searched reviews for the restaurant online.

As his terribly slow internet loaded, Jaune looked around the place and saw delicate carvings along the walls. There was a chandelier hanging from the roof and all the waiters were dressed in coat tailed suits and pure white masks.

Once the page loaded, Jaune took a peek. "Terrible staff, one out of ten. Uncooked food, two out of ten. Faulty lighting, one out of ten. Smelt like corpses…? I don't think this place will work Ren."

Ren was already taking steps back. "Yeah, no kidding." Looking up, Jaune saw the staff members were all glaring at the two of them with malicious intent.

They left in an instant.

"What was that place called again?" Jaune asked as they continued down the streets of Vale. "The Ultra Luxe, nothing ultra about it if you ask me…" They shivered remembering the eyes behind the masks.

"Alright, what's up next then?" Jaune asked as he looked around all the buildings that littered the streets of Vale. "I doubt **where **you eat is all that important. Velvet is a pretty down-to-Earth girl. I'm sure that any regular café will work just fine."

Jaune nodded in understanding. "Yeah, you're probably right. I saw a café a little earlier back. It looked nice enough." Ren nodded. "It'll do. Now we need to find you something snazzy to wear."

As they walked, Jaune couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching him. 'I'm probably just nervous.'

The duo entered the first clothing store they came across and began searching immediately. Ren had informed Jaune that going 'casual' wouldn't be good enough, but also not to be too 'formal' either.

All in all, Jaune had no idea what type of clothes he should be searching for but Ren seemed to have it covered when he shoved a pile of clothing into Jaune's hands after the first thirty seconds of being in there.

Seemed a bit fast, but Jaune entered the changing booth without objection and exited after roughly one minute. Ren whistled as the curtain was pulled open.

"Not bad Jaune…" His point was emphasized as Jaune heard what sounded like a girl squealing on the other side of the store. He turned around and checked himself in the mirror once more.

Jaune was decked out in a white, long sleeve dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to emphasize his growing biceps, a black vest was buttoned up over it and Jaune figured this was the 'formal' part of the outfit.

He was also wearing black sneakers and dark blue jeans to go with the 'casual' part of the look. Ren knew Velvet was going to be pleased and Jaune couldn't help but agree.

There was **one **small detail that couldn't be overlooked though. Ren walked up to Jaune and undid the top two buttons of the shirt, combining the two parts that Jaune needed for the look.

Jaune smirked and went back into the booth to change into his casuals. After he left, Jaune paid for the clothing and they both left the store. Jaune's wallet was basically weightless, but he knew it was worth it.

They passed by the café Jaune had spoken of earlier and checked the place out. The interior was good enough and the staff was kind. After checking online, Jaune found it received nothing but four to five stars so he made sure to remember its location.

Ren and Jaune then boarded the first airship back to Beacon and waited calmly to arrive at their destination. That is, Ren was pretending not to know who Jaune was while Jaune threw up his non-existent breakfast into the closest bin.

Even while he was dry heaving though, Jaune continued to feel as if someone was watching him. Although that was probably just all the people who were laughing at his misfortune.

Soon enough, Jaune and Ren arrived back at Beacon and returned to their dorm only to find Nora tied up with rope and duct tape over her mouth as a make-shift gag.

Pyrrha continued to smile innocently all the while. "What? She's been staying out of trouble." Only one thought passed through Jaune's mind as Ren went to go untie Nora.

'I have the weirdest team ever.'

* * *

"Oh my **God **Velv, he is **such **a dork! Did you see him hunched over that trash can?! That was priceless!" Coco continued to laugh at Jaune's airsickness even after they landed and had returned to their room.

"Yes Coco, I saw him hunched over the trash can." Velvet's eye was twitching as Coco continued to laugh until she cried form lack of air.

"I will admit though," Coco started as she regained her bearings. "He did look **styling **in that vest, aren't you glad you followed him now?" The leader asked as she raised an eyebrow at her friend.

Velvet was interrupted before she could reply. "Followed? Should I be worried about what you two were up to today?" Yatsuhashi asked as he and Fox entered the dorm.

"Not at all Yatsu, we were just getting Velvet ready for her date tomorrow." Fox's eyes widened at this while Yatsuhashi gasped in shock with his hands held to his mouth.

He then squealed like a little girl. "My little Velvy is growing up so fast! You have to tell me everything about this guy, right now."

Coco laughed while Fox only rolled his eyes. Velvet gave a deep sigh as she looked at the giant with the overly happy grin on his face.

'I have the weirdest team ever.'

* * *

**I like to think of Yatsuhashi as the 'friendly giant' of RWBY who would always be looking out for Velvet. I hope I'm not mistaken when he's introduced.**


End file.
